Days after their fairytale California wedding, tragedy struck and Kelly and Trey lost their home to the Tubbs fire. This couple fully involved their families throughout their big day and these wedding photos hold precious, joyful memories of a happier time. The two exchanged vows at The Grove in a magical redwood forest ceremony, surrounded by the natural beauty and love of their guests followed by a fun-filled reception at The Union Hotel. St. Helena Florist designed the stunning succulent-filled bridal bouquet and flower crowns. Photographer Jana Contreras Photography, sister of the bride and maid of honor, captured the emotional day, from a sweet father-daughter first look to couple portraits dwarfed by the giant trees, with Alyssa Luzaich Photography filling in as second shooter so Jana could stand beside her sister during the ceremony. Tragedy makes you hold your loved ones a little tighter and Junebug wishes these newlyweds hope and strength.
While planning their destination wedding from 6,000 miles away, Sarah and Ross knew they wanted every guest of their Chateau Saint Georges celebration to feel loved, appreciated, and taken care of. Their four-day wedding party was a small, intimate gathering in a special place for the couple with a stunningly beautiful and historic setting. Every detail of this romantic wedding was thoroughly curated and envisioned with reflected their every-day style, slightly elevated. The bride designed her own wedding dress, an elegant and womanly long-sleeved lace gown with flowing curls and minimal makeup. A dusty rose color palette was formed from the natural greenery of eucalyptus and olive branches native to the south of France that looked perfect with the rosy pinks and subtle whites designed by D’amour et de Déco, who draped every corner of the château in flowers. Pinewood Weddings captured all of the elegant glamour of this intimate and romantic celebration.
Planning a wedding from 6,000 miles away and a 9-hour time difference proved quite difficult, but we were ambitious! We had nearly 50 guests making the trip from many parts of the world. The most important thing for us was to create an intimate and memorable four days worth of memories with our family and friends that we will forever have. We wanted our guests to feel the immense love and appreciation we have for them and to really feel how special they are to us. Throughout the whole planning process I kept thinking about how things would enhance the experience for our guests andways for them to feel “taken care of.”
I was inspired by a dress I own that is a Dusty Rose color. I went to the paint store and found some palettes that matched the tones of the Dusty Rose. From there, I was inspired by greenery, specifically the eucalyptus and olive native to France. I loved the way the rose colored palette came together with the green and subtle whites to create a romantic, elegant, and understated look.
We wanted a venue where we would be able to do everything – a welcome reception, the ceremony, wedding reception, AND also be able to accommodate all or most of our guests for three nights. This posed difficult to find, because there are truly breathtaking venues but few that could deliver on all of these needs. We didn’t actually have the chance to visit the chateau before arriving for our wedding celebrations
I think the best advice I can give is to have a vision and then find vendors who you feel truly understand your vision, what is important to you, what you truly want, how much control you want over it, and that can best guide you to achieving it. I had once read about how to build a great company, you have to hire great people. And that’s what I did for my wedding. Find people you connect with andtrust to understand and help do their part to achieve your vision. Also, be flexible! Sometimes the best things and ideas come out of having to deviate from the plan or original idea.
My favorite photos are the candid ones that truly capture the emotion of the day. One of my favorites are during the ceremony when Rossand I are reading our vows. It feels so intimate, personal, pure, and really enables us to relive the day.
We knew we wanted a small, intimate destination wedding where we could spend a handful of days with all of our loved ones. We couldn’t get behind the idea of getting married on a beach or in a tropical destination. We had visited the Cote d’Azur the summer beforehand and it became a really special place for us. I love the French culture and lifestyle, especially in the South of France. We played around with the idea of getting married in the South of France and from there, couldn’t imagine doing it anywhere else.
Our wedding festivities occurred over four days, with the wedding being the third day. It is so hard to decide on a most memorable moment, but the wedding day felt like the apex of the best days of our lives. When I think back to the day, the wedding dinner continues to stand out in my mind. It was such an intimate dinner surrounded by all of our favorite people. The dinner ended up being almost three hours long because speeches turned into an open-mic, with over ten of our guests giving speeches and telling stories. We laughed and cried for the entire three hours!
I designed my dress! Which was actually so hard to do when anything is possible. I was in love with my long-sleeves and the lace on my dress. I wanted to feel beautiful and womanly in my dress but also classy and elegant. I think the low front and back paired with the simple lace and long sleeves helped achieve this. I wore pale-pink pointed toe heels with a double strap. I wanted my hair down and flowy and minimal makeup, which is what I typically do on a daily basis. It was important to me that my beauty and fashion reflected my everyday style, but slightly elevated and highlighted.
First dance was “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. We knew we wanted it to be our song immediately upon hearing it. What was even more perfect is that our live band was British and they learned it for us to play live.
Congratulations to Sarah and Ross on their truly magical and romantic destination wedding and special thanks to Pinewood Weddings for capturing such an intimate and beautiful gathering. For more romantic destination wedding inspiration, check out this whimsically romantic wedding at the Tucson Country Club!
Rachel and Josh faced a disaster less than a month before their Coeur d’Alene wedding: the main focal point at Settlers Creek, the huge historic red barn, completely burned down. This creative couple didn’t panic and their stunning outdoor celebration was rebuilt from the ashes, featuring a rustic gazebo, rural atmosphere, and elegant marquee setup. We love the bride’s incredibly fashionable wedding dress from BHLDN contrasted with the casually understated but sophisticated décor. Floral design by Briar and Bloom created a gorgeously neutral color palette of greenery and ivory florals heavily inspired by the bridesmaids’ mink grey dresses. Kat Skye Photography captured so many details and heartfelt moments from this elegant wedding, from the bride’s father serenading the couple on the dance floor to a cozy family-style reception dinner.
The most important thing to us was to create a weekend that represented who we are as a couple and that we integrated our communities of family, friends, and loved ones into our lives as we became a unit. For us, that meant being intentional with selecting everything from who we wanted to stand by our side at the alter, to the music, to the decor. We wanted the wedding to be about celebrating our love, and we wanted to be able to be present in the moment during the entire day.
Ask for what you want and need! Nobody, not even your partner, is a mind-reader. If you want something to happen on your special day, ask for it! Tell the people you love what you need help with and how they can be supportive during the process and on the day of. Creating clear expectations to our bridal party and support system ensured that they knew how to help us be worry-free the day of the wedding so that everything could unfold around us while we could just be together and bask in the experience!
We wanted an outdoor rustic venue. Josh found Settlers Creek and that was it, we knew! We loved that it was family-run and that they had experience working with diverse clients and group sizes. They were amazing to work with; they covered food, decor, set up, tear down, and wedding planning support. They were amazing!
We are both outdoorsy people, so we knew we wanted to be outdoors. We also wanted the event to feel important, so a level of formality was built into the vibe. Most of all, we wanted people to have fun and be themselves!
We chose “neutral” colors…we didn’t really have colors. Our florals were mostly greenery. Rachelwanted her bridesmaids to feel comfortable in confident in what they wore, so she gave them a “neutral” palette and let them choose their dresses. The groomsmen ended up wearing pants that were a similar color to their dresses, so that worked well. We didn’t want the colors to be louder than the experience or people!
Congratulations to Rachel and Josh on their elegant rustic wedding and special thanks to Kat Skye Photography for capturing such a beautiful and emotional day! For more elegant farm wedding inspiration, check out this modern romantic Alberta farm wedding.
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